Jones, Louis Lindley, Jr., 2004 July 27

This is a Living History interview with Louis L. Jones, Jr., class of 1935, conducted by Marilyn Somers on July 27, 2004, at his home in Canton, Georgia. The subject is Mr. Jones’s life and experiences at Georgia Tech.

Mr. Jones was born in Canton, Georgia on Thanksgiving Day in 1913. His father was from Canton and his mother from Dawson, Georgia. Mr. Jones was the oldest of four children. He went to Canton Elementary and later Canton High School. In addition to school, Mr. Jones worked at the Canton Cotton Mill, which was run by his father and grandfather. He started out working as a water boy when he was ten years old. Mr. Jones discusses the origins of the Canton Cotton Mill, Jones Mercantile Company, and the extensive Jones family. When it was time for Mr. Jones to go to college, he chose VMI because his father had gone there. After a year there he transferred to Georgia Tech because of their textile program. Mr. Jones lived off campus in a boarding house for a year before moving into his fraternity house. He pledged the SAE fraternity, as many of his relatives had done. Mr. Jones’s most famous relative was Bobby Jones. Mr. Jones has fond memories of dating girls while at Tech. He would take them to the Fox Theatre or the Varsity. He also attended debut parties with some of his friends. During the Depression, Mr. Jones left Tech and went home to help his father in the mill. He started working in the machine shop and learned how to fix every piece of equipment the mill owned. Mr. Jones describes some of the things he learned in Tech’s textile program and shows a piece of fabric he made on a hand loom. Recently, Mr. Jones received a letter from a woman who thanked him for her good upbringing in the mill community. Mr. Jones talks at length about his wife’s background and how they met. He also discusses the family they had together. The Jones’s have two sons, Louis III and Frank, and one daughter, Nancy. Mr. Jones talks about the struggle to make a profit during World War II and how the textile industry has suffered from overseas competition. He mentions the closing of the Canton Mill and talks about his father and grandfather. Mr. Jones ends the interview by saying he has enjoyed telling his story.